Last year I said I wasn’t going to do the Eat, Sleep, Knit yarnathon this year. On January 1, it was so exciting . . seeing which team I was on and the them and all the challenges and I was in! Here we are at the end of the first quarter and my projects were torture. I’m finished with them but probably not going any farther.
Last night I finished the cowl I was making. It isn’t blocked. I don’t even like it but I got it submitted. That’s what I don’t like – making things to get stars so I can get a free skein of yarn and a bag at the end of the year. There are so many things I want to make that I could be making if I weren’t making things I didn’t want to make.
OK . . that’s settled. I’m done with the yarnathon this year. Too much other stuff going on . . I just want to knit what I want to knit.
And besides that, Allison over at Simply Sock Yarn has the cutest bag that’s free this week with orders. A friend (Thank you, Laura!) tagged me on Facebeook and I had not seen it yet so I guess I can blame Laura for the yarn I purchased! The bag says “Stay Home and KNIT On”. I love it and, I had to have it. So, I ordered a bit of yarn but it’s mostly for a project I’ll share more about later.
Simply Sock Yarn is probably the first place I ever shopped when I started knitting in 2006. Allison was doing it out of her home if I recall correctly. On her blog, she has lots of pictures of socks and it made me realize that socks are why I started knitting again 14 or 15 years ago and I love knitting socks. I love knitting pretty sweaters and lacy shawls too but I think socks may be the comfort knitting for me and now, I think I’d do better with comfort knitting. That’s not to say I won’t keep working on a sweater or shawl but I feel the urge to finish some socks and start new socks and after seeing the Simply Sock Yarn blog, and seeing how many pairs Allison had started . . I don’t are if I start new socks every day. I need fun, relaxing knitting.
Addie’s socks rarely get hand washed. That was one of the things I want to work with her on – putting her handmade socks in a pretty little bucket, adding a drop or two of Soak, washing by hand, squeezing the water out and laying flat to dry. She’s old enough to do that and she could save them all til the weekend. One of the things I ordered was some Opal yarn. It holds up a bit better if it ends up in the washer and dryer but Addie says my socks keep her toes warm so, in the winter, if she wants to wear hand knitted socks, she has to learn to take care of them. Let’s just hope I get to spend some time with her before next winter! OK . . let’s not go there.
I guess that’s about it on the knitting front.
Laura Hood says
Judy, wanted to share with you that I’ve taken your advice about *doing* something when you’ve set a goal for yourself. I learned to knit while in my middle teen years and told myself one day I’d learn to knit socks. Well… won’t share how many decades it’s been, but with all this ‘spare’ time on my hands I’ve found a gal on YouTube whose teaching style appealed to me and I’ve now knitted one and half pairs of socks! Working on the second mate for the second pair and am improving every time. It does feel very satisfying to have conquered something that appeared so very complicated, just have to allow yourself to not be perfect from the get go. Think that may be the largest hang-up; folks tend to expect themselves to do something 100% correctly the very first time. Am very proud of that first pitiful, holey sock, it’s a symbol of *doing* something. Thanks for always encouraging people to jump into exploring dreams.
Judy Laquidara says
Good for you!! Every time I look at my first pair of socks, I laugh. The feet are about 2″ too short because I was so anxious to wear them. Even after years of knitting, nothing I make is perfect. I’ve had to learn to let small mistakes go or I’d keep ripping back and re-knitting one project forever.
What would we do without YouTube?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Laura Deaver says
You’re welcome! I thought of you when the bag popped up on Facebook. I don’t even knit!
Judy Laquidara says
That makes it super special that you don’t knit, saw it and knew I’d love it! Thank you.
marcie says
I’m making my first pair of socks – well, I’m on my first sock still, starting the cuff now that the foot is done – and I bought the yarn at Simply Socks here in Fort Wayne! I also bought needles and yarn for a Christmas gift per request for a daughter. She is fairly new to knitting, and is making her first shawl. We enjoy quilting and cross stitch, and now she has added knitting. I don’t know if I’ll ever do more socks, but have enjoyed the challenge of learning something new. Once I’ve worn them IN shoes, I’ll decide about a second pair, but said daughter has already told me how much she loves the color and pattern of the sock-in-progress!
Judy Laquidara says
I hope you love them and make more. I am a bit jealous that you live so close to Simply Sock Yarn!! That’s great that your daughter is interested in knitting and y’all share your hobbies.
Denise Russart says
I might have had to place an order because I need that bag too. Plus I’ve been wanting to order a sock ruler and some yarn for socks and another project might have hopped into the cart. 🙂
Nelle Coursey says
OK I started on the side to side sweater and so far it is not as bad as I thought it would be!!